WPBA US Open Field Narrowing at Twin River

Aug

WPBA US Open Field Narrowing at Twin River
The winners’-side bracket has been whittled down to eight players at the WPBA’s U.S. Open, taking place at Twin River in Lincoln, RI. The one-loss side still has one round to go before the final eight players remaining draw to see who they play once the format changes to single elimination.
Most of the top seeds remain, as there were few upsets throughout. On the winners’ side, Allison Fisher sent Vivian “The Texas Tornado” Villareal whirling to the west with a 9-6 score, while Sweden’s Helena Thornfeldt bested Melissa Little of Colorado by the same. Ga-Young Kim is still going strong, sending Laura Smith west 9-2, and Monica Webb came through her match with Megan Minerich with a 9-3 victory.
Ranked third on the WPBA currently, Xiaoting Pan netted a 9-6 win over Sarah Ellerby, with Kelly Fisher advancing over Tiffany Nelson 9-5. A double-hill battle between Gerda Hofstatter and Kim Shaw saw Shaw advance, and EnjoyPool.com 9-Ball Championship winner Karen Corr knocked Jeanette “The Black Widow” Lee to the west side of the chart.
View the WPBA US Open tournament brackets (/wpba-us-open-brackets.html)
The one-loss side is packed with top players, and it will be a scrap to see who goes on to the final 16. Earlier, Ewa Laurance succumbed to Joanne Ashton 9-7 and was eliminated, as was Val Finnie courtesy of Alice Rim 9-4. Austria’s Jasmin Ouschan ousted Melissa Herndon 9-4 and faces Lee in the next round. Aileen Dimmick, formerly Aileen Pippin, will also be fighting for a spot in the final round—having defeated Belinda Calhoun 9-5, she will now face Ellerby.
The players that made it through to the final 16 players from the no-loss bracket are Allison Fisher, Helena Thornfeldt, Ga-Young Kim, Monica Webb, Xiaoting Pan, Kelly Fisher, Kim Shaw and Karen Corr. The players coming from the one-loss side to join them are Anna Kostanian, Laura Smith, Jennifer Barretta, Vivian Villareal, Jeanette Lee, Gerda Hofstatter, Tiffany Nelson and Sarah Ellerby.
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